Niels Diffrient's Freedom Chair (1999) was a breakthrough in ergonomic task seating. Often, ergonomic chairs are likely to be improperly positioned, resulting in the creation of more problems than they solve. The Freedom Chair is simpler than other chairs, eliminating many manual adjustments and creating instead a system of internal mechanisms that respond to the user's needs. A unique counterbalancing tilt mechanism self-adjusts according to the user's weight and movement, thus eliminating the need for manual fixes. Any adjustments can be easily made while the user is seated for accurate positioning. The seat cushion provides excellent shock absorption and weight distribution for unmatched comfort. Spinneybeck Prima, a premium full-grain, aniline-dyed leather, uses a unique blend of oils during the dying process, creating a luxurious feel and putting Prima in a class of its own. The Freedom Chair was awarded the 2002 National Design Award from the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt Museum. Made in U.S.A.

For big shots who leave small footprints, Freedom is 62% recycled, 90% recyclable and 100% comfortable.

Niels Diffrient's Freedom Chair (1999) was a breakthrough in ergonomic task seating. Often, ergonomic chairs are likely to be improperly positioned, resulting in the creation of more problems than they solve. The Freedom Chair is simpler than other chairs, eliminating many manual adjustments and creating instead a system of internal mechanisms that respond to the user's needs. A unique counterbalancing tilt mechanism self-adjusts according to the user's weight and movement, thus eliminating the need for manual fixes. Any adjustments can be easily made while the user is seated for accurate positioning. The seat cushion provides excellent shock absorption and weight distribution for unmatched comfort. Spinneybeck Prima, a premium full-grain, aniline-dyed leather, uses a unique blend of oils during the dying process, creating a luxurious feel and putting Prima in a class of its own. The Freedom Chair was awarded the 2002 National Design Award from the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt Museum. Made in U.S.A.

For big shots who leave small footprints, Freedom is 62% recycled, 90% recyclable and 100% comfortable.

One of the century's preeminent American designers, Niels Diffrient, endeavored, throughout his storied career, to emphasize the "human factors" of industrial design, using ingenuity and intuition to bring consumer products that meet their needs. His emphasis on meeting human needs was codified in the three-volume Humanscale, an influential sourcebook for designers that examined the movements and dimensions of the human body. From his early work with Eero Saarinen and Marco Zanuso onward, Diffrient's integrity and vision were recognized in dozens of awards and honorary citations, and he served as designer or consultant to the Fortune 500's leading companies. His quest to create workplace environments that were fitted to the needs of their users is exemplified by the Freedom Chair, high-performance task seating that senses the weight of the user and automatically adjusts to provide optimal support without an array of knobs and levers.

Through his career, Diffrient designed every type of equipment, including computers, exhibits, trucks, airplane interiors and corporate identity programs. He has also been broadly published in the field of design and human factors, most notably as co-author of the three-volume compendium, Humanscale. Additionally,Niels spent eight years as adjunct Professor of Design at UCLA and was a visiting critic at the Yale University School of Architecture for two years. Read more >